Readers are no doubt shocked to find this Pangolin is late. I apologise. I forgot. How have you managed to live with the delay of a whole week? I only twigged when I saw the crescent moon last night.

I saw this luxuriant bilberry quiff, growing out of a dead tree trunk near Abergavenny. It’s inspiring to think that such a fruitful plant can find enough sustenance and grip for its roots – a vegetarian version of ‘out of the strong came forth sweetness’. I think the locals may call the bilberry a whinberry or whimberry. I do like the idea of a whimberry, a fruit born on a flight, as with this one – I’m thinking blackbird poo.

Ah yes, the writing, what can I say about my writing? Well, novel 2 has reached 50,000 words. Whahay!  One agent liked Novel 1 sufficiently to ask to see the whole manuscript, so that felt like progress, even though she rejected it in the end. My poem was highly commended in the ‘Anything Goes’ competition run by Leeds Writers Circle. and judged by Andy Humphrey. Whoohoo! I might share it in a later Pangolin (what, even later than this one?).

Last Thursday I attended the first session of SJ Bradley‘s Comma Press Short Story Course which was inspiring. We are going to look at short stories through different lenses. First up was Chekhov’s The Bet deconstructed using Pixar’s story spine, particularly helpful for those who struggle with endings. I went home with an embryonic idea for a story set in Uganda 20 years ago. So many ideas fizzed about my brain on the way home that they almost, but not quite, eclipsed the pleasure of being able to use my brand new pensioner’s bus-pass for the first time.

I was happy to see that the Society of Authors have launched the Paul Torday Prize for debut novels written by authors over 60. This is a welcome acknowledgement that debuts can happen at almost any age. Fruitful plants can grow out of some unpromising substrates. I know the odds of getting either of my novels published are small, but amazing things do happen. This week both Leeds United and Harrogate Town are top of their respective football leagues. What were the chances of that?